Douglas Farnill

Body figure perceptions and eating attitudes among Australian schoolchildren aged 8 to 12 years

OBJECTIVE How widespread is the desire for thinness among preadolescent Australian children and are there gender differences? METHOD Two hundred forty-four children from Grades 3 to 6 completed the childrens version of the Eating Attitudes Test (ChEAT), reported whether they had ever wanted to be thinner or tried to lose weight, and selected pictures ranging from thin to fat to depict their current and ideal body images. RESULTS Fifty percent of girls and 33% of boys have wanted to be thinner, and 40% and 24%, respectively, have attempted to lose weight. Percentages of girls and boys scoring above the ChEAT screening threshold for anorexia risk were 14% and 8%, respectively. ChEAT scores, attitudes and behaviors, and current and ideal figure perceptions were significantly related to body mass index (BMI). DISCUSSION Attitudes and behaviors were consistent with recent U.S. and Israeli findings that concerns about being overweight are prevalent among 8- to 12-year-olds. High ChEAT scores among Grade 3 children raised the question of whether very young children adequately understand this questionnaire.

Career motivations of male and female medical students.

Australian medical students (N = 645) were asked at the beginning of their training to rank the importance of a list of motivations relevant to their choice of medicine as a career. Both male and female students ranked the desire to help others as the most important motivation, closely followed by the scientific nature and the intellectual challenge of the profession of medicine. Both genders rated considerations of status and prestige as of low importance. These findings are similar to surveys from other countries chat have reported altruism and intellectual challenge as prime motivations for both genders.

Stress Following Marriage Breakdown: Does Social Support Play a Role?

Abstract This study examined the relationship between social support and the everyday stress experienced by 139 individuals whose marriages had recently Ended Social support was measured by the Interview Schedule for Social Interactions (ISSI) which provides indices of community integration and attachment to close friends and family. Everyday stress was measured by a scale designed to be sensitive to the everyday stressors experienced by this category of people. Stress was inversely related to both indices of social support although more strongly to close attachment than community integration. The possible stress prevention role of social support in the post-separation period is discussed.

Eating attitudes and the body mass index of Australian schoolchildren aged 8 to 12 years

Children from upper primary grades of three Sydney schools (n=244), aged from 8 to 12 years, completed the childrens version of the Eating Attitudes Test (ChEAT) (Maloney et al., 1988), reported whether they had ever desired to be thinner and had ever tried to lose weight, and had their heights and weights measured. Results were consistent with recent Swedish, U.S.A. and Israeli findings that concerns about being overweight are prevalent among pre-adolescent children, particularly among girls. The majority of overweight children reported that they have wished to be thinner, and many have actively sought to lose weight. Of females classified as underweight, 26 per cent have wanted to be thinner and 62 per cent of these had tried to lose weight at some time. Only six females were classified as very underweight, but three said that they had wanted to be thinner and two that they had actively tried to lose weight. Results offer some support for the value of the ChEAT as a screening test but its validity with very young children is questionable.

Correlations for the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales with Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test in a Forensic Sample

People with an intellectual disability are over-represented in the criminal justice system in many western countries. Identifying accused persons with intellectual disability is important if they are to receive protections available under the law. Accurate diagnosis is also relevant for correctional administrators, probation and parole services, and community services. Diagnosis of intellectual disability must be made on the basis of both cognitive skills (intelligence) and adaptive behavior. In this study, the Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test assessed intelligence, and the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales assessed adaptive behavior, through self-report. Tests were administered to 150 offenders, ranging in age from 13 to 53 years, in Australian prisons, juvenile detention centers, legal aid offices, and probation services. Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients calculated among all subtests and between total scores were significant. ROC curve analyses demonstrated that performance on each effectively predicted a standard score of less than 70 on the other one.

Do NESB University Students with Poor English Skills Make Rapid Linguistic Gains in Mainstream Studies

ABSTRACT This paper reports the testing and retesting two years later of 147 first‐year medical students for English language proficiency (ELP). A group of 66 with low initial proficiency, all of non‐English‐speaking background (NESB), improved from an average language age of 14.3 years to 15.2 years over the period. A comparison group of 81, randomly drawn from those who were of adequate ELP, 48% of whom were NESB, were close to the test ceiling on both occasions with an age equivalence of 33 years. Generalisation to other courses and samples may be limited but this study did not indicate great linguistic gains associated with mainstream studies for those whose English was poor at the beginning of their course.

A study of the concurrent validity of the Screening Test of Adolescent Language with recent immigrants

The concurrent validity of the Screening Test of Adolescent Language was investigated by correlating the total scores for 152 first-year medical students with their performances on the Woodcock Language Proficiency Battery. The sample included many recent immigrants from southeastern Asia who were not yet highly proficient in English. The Pearson correlation of .78 between the two measures was high and statistically significantly different from zero.

Screening Higher‐Education Students for English Language Problems: Development of the Australian Tertiary‐English Screening Test

ABSTRACT The number of NESB students in higher education has increased in recent years. Among the cultural factors that adversely affect the studies of some of these students are difficulties associated with the English language. Students with language related problems need to be identified early so that they can be encouraged to participate in the available support programs. A 20 item screening test (AUSTEST), quickly administered to large groups, has been developed on medical students at the University of Sydney. The test has evolved through a program of screen testing 1146 first‐year students (40% NESB) over the course of 5 years. The final cross‐validation study of a three‐phase process of test development with 81 students produced a correlation of 0.86 with a well established but more expensive individually administered English‐language proficiency battery, correctly identified 31 of the 33 students who were below the general population average, and correlated 0.43 with aggregated final marks in firs...

INTERRATER RELIABILITY OF THE SCORING OF THE SCREENING TEST OF ADOLESCENT LANGUAGE

Group administrations of the Screening Test of Adolescent Language have been successful in identifying students with English-language problems among groups of university students who include many recent immigrants from southeastern Asia. However, scoring several items requires subjective judgement. Accordingly, interrater reliability was investigated by having two independent examiners score the written responses of 299 first-year medical students at two Australian universities. The examiners produced very similar distributions of total scores with means of 20.36 and 19.36 and achieved a high agreement in the categorisation of students with English problems. The Spearman rank-order correlation of 0.83 was high and statistically significant from zero.

Self-control in Schizophrenia

This paper reviews studies of the application of self-control procedures to the symptoms of schizophrenia. The authors argue that, while there are few well-controlled studies on their effectiveness, there are many cognitive-behavioural techniques which show promise for assisting clients to develop greater mastery over a number of symptoms. Surveys also show that many persons with schizophrenia spontaneously use their own methods to gain some control over their symptoms. While much further research is needed in this area, clinicians need to empower clients with schizophrenia to explore and enhance their self-control skills.